Sound the Bugle
by 13litz13last
Summary: Story that goes with the lyrics of a song. Spoilers for 400-ish. Itachi is thinking about things as he dies. Very good, I think.


This is "Sound the Bugle" by Bryan Adams. It's a great song. It was from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, I think. I don't own it or Naruto, though I doubt you actually thought that.

Please, enjoy my writing.

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**Sound the bugle now…play it just for me…**

Itachi staggered forward, wrenching and coughing up blood. His palms were slicked with sweat and blood, and he could barely stand. Sasuke pressed himself against the wall, looking at him with hate-filled eyes.

**As the seasons change, remember how I used to be…**

Why had Sasuke so easily fallen for his act? Though it was obviously a good thing he had, it hurt Itachi. In a way, he wished it had been quite evident that he in fact was a liar, and did love his brother. That way, he wouldn't have to lie, and allow himself to die slowly from self-hatred and mental agony.

Didn't he remember all the good times they'd shared? All those shuriken practices, games of hide-and-go-seek, and all those times just hanging out.

_Sasuke, you idiot, _Itachi thought. _You pathetic fool…you lovely, cute, precious little fool…_

**I've got nothing left, just an empty heart…**

He staggered forward, blind as he could be. He could sense Sasuke, though. His heavy breathing, his heavy heart pounds. Soon, Itachi would have neither.

_I'm just an empty shell of what I used to be, _Itachi thought. _Where had everything I strived for before all this gone? Where had all the time in the world ended up? What happened to our futures?_

**I'm a soldier, wounded so I must give up the fight…**

This would be the end of him, the end of all his suffering. Sasuke would be free of his curse mark, finally able to go on with his life without the burden of his revenge.

_That's all I am…a burden…but I'll be gone soon…_

**There's nothing more for me…lead me away…**

Yes, Sasuke, this is the end.

Itachi stepped forward, and began to slowly lift his arm agonizingly slowly towards Sasuke's forehead. Sasuke, foolishly, thought he wanted to get at his eyes. He stepped back once again, but there was no place to go.

_Please, let me do this one last thing for you…Sasuke…_

**Or leave me lying here.**

Fingers connected with his forehead, as if he'd missed. Itachi used his last burst of strength to transfer all his power, all his eye techniques, into Sasuke. And with it, all his will to live. He felt his strength disappear.

_Finally, my journey is over._

He fell.

**Sound the bugle now, tell them I don't care…**

His mission was over, his brother was safe.

_Take that, Madara,_ he thought. _Take that, Akatsuki. Take that, Danzo._

He felt that whatever was left of him would live on in Sasuke. His little brother would live out the life he should have had.

**There's not a road I know that leads to anywhere…**

Where had his ambitions gotten Itachi? The strongest member of Akatsuki, maybe. The most feared of the Uchiha clan, maybe. One of the top ninja in the Bingo Book, maybe. But what about where it mattered? His village had forsaken him, his family had cursed him, his own brother felt nothing but hate towards him.

**Without a light I fear that I will stumble in the dark…**

Though Itachi ended up blind as a bat almost throughout his adulthood, he had not been blind in another sense. He had seen Danzo's plan, and Orochimaru's plan. But he'd foiled them all. He'd overcome all obstacles in his path, and he'd saved his little brother from becoming the vessel of filth like Orochimaru…and he'd saved him from death by Danzo's hands…He'd done it all…And now, he could keep Madara away…

**Lay right down and decide not to go on…**

That's what Itachi was doing, deciding not to go on. He had no choice. He started to loathe himself. To loathe the world. Why had he been forced to make up for Konoha's mistakes? Why couldn't he have his own life? Why couldn't he have just not cared about the civilians and Konoha?

**Then from on high, somewhere in the distance…**

This was it, and Itachi knew it. It was time to go. It was time to leave this wretched world. His breathing slowed. He felt dizzy.

**There's a voice that calls, "Remember who you are!"**

Itachi didn't want to die like this. He didn't want to die hating the world. That was a fool's destiny. Sure, fairness had been taken from him, and his life had meant nothing to almost anyone. But he'd saved his brother. He'd fought all the odds. He'd been a good person in bad conditions. And he'd saved all of Konoha! That was all he could hope for. He was Itachi Uchiha! He was proud! He was strong! He was…he was…

**If you lose yourself, your courage soon will follow…**

_I am Itachi. Itachi Uchiha. Uchiha Itachi. Brother of Sasuke. Son of Fugaku. Son of Mikoto. Friend of Shisui. Enemy of Madara, Enemy of Orochimaru, Enemy of Akatsuki._

_Itachi._

**So be strong tonight…remember who you are…**

A thud sounded beside Itachi. Sasuke had fallen? No…Sasuke…get up…you can't die…you can't end it like this…no…

**Yeah, you're a soldier now, fighting in a battle…**

His breathing was steady, his heart was pounding strongly. Yes, Sasuke would be alright. He would live. Itachi's endeavors weren't wasted.

**To be free, once more…**

Itachi felt himself fading. His life was finally ending, after all this time. He would be free again, as death had a way of doing that to people. He would finally be happy again, if there was an afterlife.

And even though Itachi had been blind, and knew there was a way out of it, he knew this new blackness that swallowed him up was permanent.

**Yeah, that's worth fighting for!**


End file.
